Southwest Airlines yesterday at the Corporate Travel World Conference in New York announced a corporate sales team focused on enrolling companies in its Swabiz online corporate booking program. This is the first time the low-fare airline has formalized a sales team dedicated to the corporate market. The carrier said Swabiz enrollments grew 72 percent in 2003 versus 2002, largely a result of sales efforts launched last summer
(BTN, Aug. 11, 2003).
When asked by
Business Travel News if current Swabiz accounts number in the dozens or the hundreds, Southwest director of corporate sales Rob Brown said, "It is more than that." Southwest identified Kaiser Permanente and Sierra Health Services of Las Vegas as current users. Brown added that many large companies use Swabiz as a complement to existing booking systems.
In its announcement, Southwest said, "It was soon evident that a full-time sales force was needed to maintain the Swabiz momentum." Three Southwest sales personnel will lead Swabiz efforts throughout the country, reporting to Scott Anderson, who was named manager of national accounts.
Brown said the tool does not include transaction fees and therefore remains "completely free" for corporate users. He also assuaged concerns from certain travel managers regarding Swabiz fare availability, saying users never can find lower Southwest fares in any other channel.
Meanwhile, JetBlue Airways reported strong interest for its new CompanyBlue booking portal. Though the product has not yet been officially launched, the carrier said it began pre-registering companies during the Corporate Travel World Conference. In other portal news, America West Airlines said next week it would follow its recent announcement of the AWAcorpLink booking site by launching a similar online tool for the travel agency community.